Building The Obsidian Lactation Center
The Obsidian Lactation Center is a future physical space designed to transform how lactation care is delivered, understood, and integrated into maternal and infant health.
As Alabama’s first Black-led lactation center, this work is rooted in lactation justice—addressing the systemic barriers that have historically limited access to breastfeeding support, particularly for Black families.
This is not simply about opening a clinic.
It is about building infrastructure that reshapes how human milk is valued, supported, and sustained within our healthcare systems and communities.
the model
The Obsidian Lactation Center is being developed as a comprehensive lactation care model that integrates clinical services, community-based support, and workforce development within a single, intentional space.
This model recognizes that breastfeeding outcomes are not determined by individual effort alone, but by access to care, continuity of support, and systemic conditions.
By embedding lactation care into a structured, community-centered environment, we are creating a model that can influence both practice and policy.
lactation justice in practice
Lactation justice means ensuring that all families have equitable access to the resources, support, and care needed to meet their feeding goals.
The Obsidian Lactation Center addresses this by:
• Providing culturally responsive, clinically sound lactation care
• Expanding access through no-cost and low-cost services
• Challenging the framing of breastfeeding as optional rather than essential care
• Building systems that support families beyond the immediate postpartum period
This work moves lactation out of the margins and into the broader continuum of maternal and infant healthcare.
The Obsidian Lactation Center is being developed to set a new standard for how lactation care is delivered.
One where breastfeeding is treated as an essential component of maternal and infant health.
One where families are supported continuously—not only in moments of crisis.
One where care is both clinically excellent and culturally responsive.
This is how we begin to reshape the narrative and infrastructure surrounding human milk.
We invite partners, funders, and community stakeholders to join us in building The Obsidian Lactation Center.
This is an opportunity to invest in infrastructure that will influence not only individual outcomes, but the systems that shape maternal and infant health for generations to come.